Uncle Brian's Wedding

Uncle B's wedding was a huge success. The weekend was chaotic and exhausting, but it was an incredibly beautiful and memorable experience for our family.

First of all, the flight down with all three children by myself was not that bad. We drove to the airport, parked the car, loaded onto the shuttle, and arrived at the main terminal with no problems. Phew! As we were walking into the airport, Taylor announced that her feet hurt. The shoes she had been wearing all day were forming blisters on her feet. I had pre-packed all of her clothing and sent them to California a day earlier with Tommy, so I had no other shoe options for her. So, Taylor walked in her socks from Seatac to the hotel in Bodega Bay! I know by now to pick my battles! After we checked our luggage, got through security, and took the tram to our terminal, I insisted that everyone use the bathroom. Taylor was still wearing her (very) dirty socks, and Matty took the opportunity to go #2. Then, we headed to our gate with enough time to run a few circles around the gate area until boarding began. Since we were on a small plane from Seattle to Santa Rosa, we had to walk out onto the tarmac to board the plane. As we were walking outside, a woman stopped me to point out that my daughter was not wearing any shoes. Ha!

Taylor and Matty sat together on the flight. Brayden and I were across the aisle. Fortunately, no one was seated next to me, so Brayden effectively had his own seat. Hallelujah! You have no idea how this made my day (well, that AND the free glass of wine during the flight). Taylor and Matty kept themselves entertained during the entire flight with their LeapPads (I gave them both new games when we got on the plane), coloring projects, a movie, and junk food galore. However, the air pressure must have really messed with Matty's system because he went #2 TWO more times on the plane. Helping him was no small feat since I had to carry Brayden up to the front restroom with us. The bathroom was so teeny tiny that I could not fit in there with Matty. Instead, I got Matty's pants down, sat him on the toilet, and then stood just outside the door, trying to corral Brayden, while I occasionally stuck my head inside the bathroom to see if Matty was done. I'm sure it was quite entertaining for the other passengers to observe. Meanwhile, Brayden enjoyed running up and down the aisles. At one point, I caved and just let him go for it. He was hard to contain but he did okay, all things considered. I was pretty relieved when we landed in Santa Rosa and my parents were waiting for us. Let the fun begin!

The rehearsal began at 2:30 on Friday afternoon. There were two flower girls and eight ring bearers in the wedding. By mid-afternoon, all children under three years old were sufficiently tired and cranky. The ceremony was in a beautiful outdoor amphitheater with redwoods all around. The challenge to this was that all ten bridesmaids, ten groomsmen, and ten little people had to walk down a very steep staircase - and I knew there was no way that Brayden would ever make it down the stairs when he was supposed to. So, I made the executive decision to hand Brayden off to my parents before the ceremony began. Matty was tasked with walking down the stairs with the other little boys and Taylor was all set to drop rose petals before the bride came down the aisle/stairs.

After the rehearsal, we headed back to the hotel and practically threw the kids at Aunt Emily in order to catch the shuttle to the rehearsal dinner. Aunt Emily was later duped Saint Emily for all of her help with my babes during the weekend. I am forever grateful to her for all of her help. 

The rehearsal dinner was fabulous - Elaine and Tom attended to every last detail. The food, the drinks, the slide show, the speeches, and the merriment made for an unforgettable evening. Sadly, I was having so much fun that I failed to take any pictures. Duoh!

I have no pictures from the rehearsal dinner, but I did receive a picture of the slumber party taking place in Emily's room.

I woke up on Saturday morning with a nice headache but had little time to recover. I cannot begin to describe the play-by-play of the day because it was so hectic. Tommy, Aunt Emily, and I rushed around to entertain the kids, feed them, run back and forth between the bridal suite so that Taylor could have her hair done and I could have my makeup done, iron dresses and shirts (why I did not do that in advance is beyond me!), bribe Brayden to take a nap, pack a bag of tricks/snacks for the kids during the wedding party pictures and ceremony, practice the best man speech, etc. Somehow, we managed to get everyone dressed and ready in time to catch the shuttle at 1:00.

A flower girl in the making...

Meanwhile, as Taylor and I were in the bridal suite, I received this picture from Emily. I am still stunned that she got Brayden to nap on her shoulder.

After his nap, they headed to the pool!

The gorgeous bride and beautiful flower girl all ready to go!

The wedding party pictures were taken on the farm where the reception was held. Sadly, the pictures were a bit rushed and we did not get any pictures of our family of five. I am hopeful the photographer got some good pictures of the whole Bligh family. I cannot fault the photographer one bit - it was absolutely crazy trying to corral all the little boys. It was like herding sheep! 

Sibling love at its finest.

If only Brayden would stand still for a picture!

The bride and her girls.

The groom and his buds.

The whole wedding party, minus the little people who never would have stood still for a picture!

Me and my boy.

Tommy tried to get a picture of me with my beautiful babies. And yes, this the best shot we got. Pathetic, right?

This is Kristen's family - parents, brothers, sister, spouses, and their children. They are a big family and they are awesome.

Be still my heart.

After the pictures were done, Taylor and I were asked to ride in the limo with the bride to the ceremony. Taylor felt so special, and I am so glad I was able to share the limo experience with her. When we arrived at the ceremony, it was close to "go time." We frantically lined up and prepared to walk down the steep staircase. Most of the little boys were melting down. At this point, all of the parents grabbed their boys and agreed to hold them or walk with them down the aisle. Matty was actually doing okay, but once he saw the other boys with their parents, he wanted to walk down with Tommy. So be it! Tommy, Missy (the Matron of Honor), Missy's son Logan (the ring bearer) and Matty walked down the aisle after the parents were seated. You will see in the pictures that Matty carried a sign which said "Uncle Brian, here comes your girl!" It was pretty stinkin' cute. I was at the back of the line, so before I started down the steps, I looked back at Taylor and gave her a wink. She was the lone child left to go down the stairs because all of the little boys had gone down with their parents. She looked so brave. 

The stairs were treacherous. I could not look at the front of the amphitheater or at any of the guests because I had to watch my feet the whole way down. Once I took my place, I held my breath as I watched Taylor start her way down. Now, allow me a moment to brag about my little girl. She did a fantastic job! She walked slowly and gracefully, carefully dropping rose petals as she came down the steps. She was perfect. She nailed it. My heart beamed with pride!

The ceremony was about half an hour. It was a great mix of silly and serious. I was thankful when the bishop made a couple of mistakes because it took the spotlight off of the little boys who were running all over the place. If there is a video of the wedding, I guarantee you will hear Brayden's voice in the audio as he was running up and down the road on the side of the theater. I don't know what I would have done without my mom and dad there to chase him. Matty sat with my mom for most of the ceremony, and Taylor stood, front and center, the whole time. Another proud mommy moment.

Once the ceremony was over, we loaded onto the shuttles and drove back to the farm. The cocktail hour was on top of a hill. It was absolutely beautiful up there, but unfortunately, there was quite a bit of wind. I was pretty happy at this point that I did not pay to have my hair done. The kids did well, all things considered. All three of them had their first Sprite (it was the best I could do!) and sent me back for seconds and thirds. The food was too fancy for them, but I had plenty of junk food in my bag to keep them entertained. I called Saint Emily and asked her to come as soon as she was ready, and she arrived just as we were about to walk down to the tent for dinner. God Bless Emily! We loaded the boys into the van. The original plan was for Taylor to stay with us for dinner and dancing, but she decided at this point that she would rather go back to the hotel and play with Avery and Isabel. Hallelujah! After loading the kids in the van, we helped Grandma Bligh (who is 91) into the front seat for a ride down to the tent. Then, the florist asked if Emily could drive some of the flower arrangements to the tent as well. It was hysterical! Again, what would we have done without Emily?

Another pathetic attempt at a family picture. Wind + tired children + lots of people to distract them = Photo above

This is a picture of the wedding party walking down from the cocktail hour to the tent for dinner and dancing. My dad joked that it looked like the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.

Once Saint Emily was on her way home, we (me, Tommy, Grandma, Pop Pop, Mimi and Baba) breathed a sigh of relief. I love my children dearly, but the reception was a whole new experience without them there. The dinner, the speeches, and the dancing were fabulous, and it was truly a night filled with much love and joy. 

The Mrs. Blighs - Sadly, we lost one earlier this year, but we are excited to have another one in the family.

Happy

The flight home was a completely different story than the flight down. I had my husband and my parents along to help. Piece of cake!

Time to wrap up this blog post. The end result of the hectic wedding weekend is that we all got a new sister-in-law and aunt that we adore. Welcome to our family, Kristen!